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Tuesday, May 16, 2017

US Congress Bends over Backwards to Prevent Improvement of Relationship with Russia

Congress on May 4 authorized a new effort to counter «Russian influence and aggression» and to support civil society organizations in Europe and Eurasia. The lawmakers also backed a measure imposing new restrictions and oversight on Russian diplomats in the United States. The provisions are part of the $1.1 trillion budget to fund the federal government for 2017 backed by Senate. The bill is expected to head to the president’s desk soon.

Lawmakers earmarked $100 million for a new «Countering Russian Influence Fund», which specifically targets the money toward civil society groups that «strengthen democratic institutions and processes, and counter Russian influence and «aggression». The legislation also provides funds for the so-called Eastern Partnership countries – a European Union program with the ex-Soviet states of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine. The funds will reduce their EU’s «vulnerability to external economic and political pressure from the Russian Federation».

It all brings to memory the days of McCarthyism – a shameful period of recent American history. This new body is to be modeled after its Cold War predecessor – the Active Measures Working Group, which operated at the height of the Cold War, when some mid-level officials in the US State Department sought a more robust effort to counter «aggressive Soviet propaganda».

It takes two to tango, all the ill will can hardly be blamed solely on the US.

At the time of the fall of the USSR, most Russians were heavily pro-American and wanted to liberalize and join the West. After the US effort to force liberalization quickly almost resulted in the implosion of the Russian economy, during which most Russian suffered horribly, the mood changed. As NATO began approaching Russian borders, and especially with the war in Kosovo, Which Russians viewed as pro-Islamic and anti-Slavic, Russians not only lost trust in the US and its liberal allies but fear of the US and NATO grew rapidly. Now most Russians think that there will be another attack on Russia like Napoleon and Hitler.

I watched a documentary on it, the Russian people lost their life savings and pensions while Yeltsin gave away their industries to oligarchs and gangsters. The Chicago Boys made a packet out of it and billions went offshore to tax havens. Putin came along and reversed much of it, so now he is very popular with the Russian people.

The US idea was to privatize the state industries as quickly as possible while the window was open to do it on the rationale that it would initially be a mess but the free market would sort it out quickly.

Some US economists are still saying (I read this last week) that Russia is now doing poorly economically because Putin stepped in and stopped this rapid privatization.